1. Field of the Invention
The device of the present invention relates to a new and improved assembly for cooking foods.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A recently popular cooking appliance for the home is the portable food or hamburger cooking appliance. This appliance includes an invertible plate for use between a heated cover and a base pan. The cover that may be fabricated from a heat conductive material and includes a depending rib to be selectively received in corresponding grooves, one on each side of the invertible plate. The rib contains an electric heating element. The space between the invertible plate and the cover defines a chamber in which food such as a hamburger patty or a sandwich may be cooked or gilled. Examples of these typical prior art cooking appliances are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,963,898 and 4,011,431.
One problem with such prior art cooking appliances is that they are only capable of cooking one sandwich or one hamburger patty at a time, since only one side of the invertible plate is usable during any one cooking interval. To overcome this problem, one prior art solution is to provide a larger plate for side-by-side heating or cooking. This doubles the size of the appliance while making it more cumbersome and difficult to handle, increases the storage problem and requires a larger heating element. In addition, if only one sandwich or hamburger patty is desired to be cooked, the larger heating element still heats the large unit although not in use.
A second problem with the prior art cooking appliances is that during the cooking of foods containing fat or grease, such as a hamburger patty, the juices and grease must be allowed to flow out of the cooking chamber to provide the best grilling conditions sometimes characterized as fat free grilling. One prior art solution is to provide holes or similar openings within the heating plate to allow grease to flow through the heating plate and into a collecting chamber such as a drip tray. A difficulty with this solution is that particles of food may be trapped within the holes or apertures closing them and preventing the free flow of grease from the cooking chamber. The openings also interfere with good heat transfer to the food.